The process of preparing wells drilled in subterranean formations, such as hydrocarbon production wells, often includes cementing the well. Known techniques for well cementing protect and seal the wellbore. Cementing may be used to seal the annulus between the wellbore wall and casing in the wellbore. Cementing may also be used to plug portions of a well, including for the purpose of abandonment, to seal a lost circulation zone, etc.
Known cementing systems and methods pre-mix bulk cement materials and cement additives in batch processes at an offsite location. A wide variety of additives may be included to provide desired time for setting the cement, density, viscosity, strength, etc. The blended mix must then be transported to the well-site. However, transporting the blended mix may cause settling of additives and other components due to inherent vibrations in the transportation process. In addition, use of the offsite location may result in operating downtime, leftover materials, increased costs, and increased time to mix a wellbore cement. Therefore, it may be desirable to provide bulk cement materials and cement additives in a different manner.
After drilling ceases and before cementing begins, static drilling mud in a wellbore may gel up and become difficult to remove. Often, a spacer fluid is provided between cement slurry and drilling mud to avoid commingling.
Known methods for batch mixing of spacer fluids require a system separate from the cementing system. As a result, a well-site requires additional units to perform both cementing and spacer operations. Often, during simultaneous operations, there are insufficient mixers to mix the spacer and operations may be delayed. Therefore, it may be desirable to provide spacer fluid in a different manner.